Janell Tucker Shackelford
Janell Tucker Shackelford
1/26/1926 - 9/28/2016
Janell Shackelford of Austin passed away peacefully at home on September 28 following complications from a recent stroke. Her children were with her.
Mrs. Shackelford was born in Orth near Olney, Texas to Jess William Tucker and Birdie Bell Payton Tucker and was the youngest of five children. She attended Hunt and Tonk Valley country schools near Olney.
She grew up outside Olney where her father was a tenant farmer, experiencing the devastation and hardship of the Great Depression. She came of age during World War II, and these two historic events influenced her outlook for the rest of her life. President Franklin Roosevelt was her lifelong hero, and she remained a lifelong Democrat as well.
Mrs. Shackelford went to work in Fort Worth during the early years of WWII, living with her sister Estelline and friends at various apartments including Mrs. Stillwell's boarding house on W. Pulaski Street at 8th Avenue. Her future husband Carl William Shackelford was stationed at what was then the Fort Worth Army Airfield. As barracks were insufficient for the influx of soldiers, he lived off-base, also at Mrs. Stillwell's. Mrs. Shackelford met her future husband one day when Mr. Shackelford whistled at her as she came up the sidewalk to the boarding house.
After Mr. Shackelford was sent overseas they corresponded for the duration of the war and upon his return, they were married in August 1947 at Riverside Church of Christ in Fort Worth. A power outage occurred prior to the ceremony, so they were married outside under the headlights of guests' cars. Mrs. Shackelford always regretted that she had no wedding photos due to the insufficient light.
The newlyweds moved immediately to Washington D.C. where Mr. Shackelford was employed at the Pentagon. Mrs. Shackelford especially enjoyed their years in the nation’s capital and the opportunity to visit its many historical sites. As Mr. Shackelford pursued his Civil Service career, they were also stationed in Richmond, Virginia and Lubbock, Abilene, Fort Worth, and Corpus Christi, Texas. While living in Lubbock they welcomed two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Shackelford were married almost forty-eight years at the time of his death in 1995.
Mrs. Shackelford remained a country girl at heart who enjoyed life's simple pleasures. She loved classic country and western music, down home country cooking, cats and dogs, working in her yard, sewing, flowers of all kinds but especially pink roses, American and Civil War history (especially reading about President Abraham Lincoln), genealogy, clothes, and finding bargains at thrift stores. Up until her stroke, Mrs. Shackelford lived independently in her own home, cooked, did yardwork, read the newspaper daily, and never missed the nightly news, always wanting to be informed about what was happening in the world. But above all, she simply loved being with her family.
Mrs. Shackelford will be deeply missed. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, brother Lawrence Tucker, and her sister Lucille Smith. She is survived by her son Stephen, daughter-in-law Susie and grandchildren Justin and Theresa Shackelford of Austin; daughter Sharon, son-in-law Doug Watkins and grandchildren Lauren and William Watkins of Arlington; and sisters Estelline Jones of Missouri and Ophie Faye Anderson of Burleson.
Following a private service, she was interred at Capital Memorial Park next to her husband.